Journey to the Dark Side: A Lore Story, REDUX
Written by: S. Bell

Chapter Twenty-Two: Unexpected Acquaintance

Alpha Quadrant 2366

Two years is a long time; it's almost the equivalent of multiple eternities if you happen to be an android. After floating in space for that duration, Lore had ample time to reflect on his life; what he'd become and what led him there. When one spends an excess amount of time with nothing but the thoughts of past injustices to keep them company, the resentment begins to accumulate and fester in their minds. In time, it can turn into an obsession; the thoughts of being powerless to change the past and the desire to taste revenge in the future.

One day, a Pakled ship rescued Lore from his seemingly endless drift in space and in return, he attempted to expand their knowledge. It was a challenging task since the Pakleds were a particularly sluggish race as far as language and educational development was concerned. In time, Lore was able to take command of the ship and it felt good to him. He figured that he didn't need to spend fifteen years jumping through the humans' hoops in order to maintain a tertiary position on a starship. The fact that he was commanding his own vessel only solidified his belief that he was superior to his brother.

Lore traveled to a small planet in the Alpha Quadrant that was inhabited by a mixture of various species of alien and humans. He surveyed a particular section of the planet and traveled from city to city before he figured it was a waste of time and made the decision to leave. However, something unexpected stopped him in his tracks just before he attempted to transport back to his ship.

"Jacqueline!" a young man called happily as he ran over to a woman in the crowd, "It's really you! I've missed you so much!"

Lore peaked from behind a column and watched as the man hugged a young woman in the center of the busy square. The woman stood at 5' 7" and had skin the color of golden caramel. Her silky black hair glistened in the afternoon sun. Jacqueline was now in her forties, but she looked as young and as radiant as she did on Omicron Theta. 'How is this possible?' Lore wondered. Although it had been thirty years, seeing her hug another man made him seethe with jealousy. He withdrew a breath of disbelief as he menacingly shifted his lower jaw. 'Well, well. If it isn't my dear sweet Jackie and her new man!' he thought bitterly as he continued to watch her intently.

"Caleb? Is that you?!" Jackie exclaimed joyfully, "It's been a long time. You're all grown up now! I'm so glad to see you were among the lucky ones who evacuated Omicron in time!"

"The feeling's mutual. My goodness Jacqueline! You haven't aged a day."

Jacqueline noticed a young boy, around seven years of age, standing next to Caleb.

"Jacqueline, this is my son Daniel." Caleb beamed.

"Nice to meet you Daniel." she greeted the child — who blushed shyly as he buried his face in his father's arm.

"Jacqueline, do you still remember the song you used to sing for our class? It's been so long I'm afraid I forgot the cadence. 'Abdul Abu…' Oh, I can't remember it for the life of me!" Caleb chuckled and a slight, glum expression came over Jacqueline's face.

"Oh, you're talking about 'Abdul Abulbul Amir'" she said with a forced smile.

"Yes! That's it! I loved that song when I was a kid. Can you sing it for Daniel?"

"Uh, I don't know…"

"Please." Caleb implored. His son Daniel also nodded feverishly.

"Well… alright." she replied reluctantly and began to sing, her voice quivering slightly:

"The sons of the Prophet are brave men and bold;
And quite unaccustomed to fear.
But the bravest by far in the ranks of the Shah;
Was Abdul Abulbul …"

Jacqueline's voice trailed off and she broke into tears.

"I - I'm sorry… it's just that —" she attempted to explain.

"No, don't worry about it; it's okay. I'm sorry if I caused you to become upset."

"Caleb, it's not your fault. I'll be fine. I just need a little time alone to… pull myself together okay? I'll see you later; maybe I'll be able to finish the whole song then. It was so nice to see you again, and it was nice to meet you Daniel."

"Thanks Miss. You have a really pretty voice." Daniel replied as he and his father walked away.

Jacqueline dried her tears as she turned around and noticed a familiar person standing by one of the columns. His glance just missed hers as he turned to walk away. Lore knew he could move much faster; that he could easily elude her and never have to see her again — if he chose. However, he wanted her to catch up to him. He wanted to see her up close… if only one last time. He heard her footfalls drawing closer behind him and then she called out to him.

"Data? Data is that you?" she asked.

Lore stopped in his tracks, his back still turned to her. He smirked menacingly as he exhaled a quick, sharp breath of disbelief.

'Data?' Lore thought to himself with heated bewilderment, 'Now isn't this interesting!'

'Alright, play along and you'll find out everything you want to know.' Lore thought to himself before neutralizing his expression and turning to face Jacqueline.

"Data! What are you doing here? Those are interesting clothes, are you on leave?" she exclaimed happily as she looked curiously at his attire; he was wearing a brown Pakled uniform.

"Yes Jacqueline. I have been… curious about this particular planet and I thought my leave would be an opportune time to explore it." Lore answered.

"Well, there really isn't anything extraordinary here. In fact, it's pretty boring at times, but I guess that's why I like it so much. I hope you won't get bored during your visit."

"Quite the contrary, I find it very interesting. I believe I can learn a great deal here."

Jacqueline smiled as she avoided eye contact for a moment.

"When did you arrive?"

"One-hour, twenty-seven minutes ago." Lore lied.

"Are you staying with friends here?"

"I do not have any friends here and I have yet to acquire living quarters for the duration of my stay."

Jacqueline sighed quietly for a moment and she appeared to be internally debating something.

"Data, you could… stay with me if you'd like. Think of it as my way of repaying you for your hospitality during my brief visit to the Enterprise."

"That is very kind of you Jacqueline. Are you certain I will not be an imposition?"

"It's no trouble Data. Besides, things have been pretty rough for me lately and I could really use a friend right now." she sincerely replied.

'Yes, I'm sure you could!' Lore thought snidely. To him, it appeared that something had happened between Jacqueline and his brother. His anger and jealousy was immeasurable and it took all of his strength to maintain his charade of being Data, but he knew he needed to do so in order to learn the truth.

Jacqueline lived in cozy, yet humble quarters. The furnishings were simple and abstract. Upon entering, they walked into the small living area where she did most of her reading and lesson planning for her classes when school was in session. She motioned for Lore to sit on the sofa and offered him a drink, but he declined. As she went to get herself some refreshment, a large housecat leapt onto the sofa beside Lore and hissed. In response, Lore smirked before growling menacingly in the voice of an aggressive canine, prompting the feline to scurry away — much to Lore's amusement. Jacqueline nearly tripped on the fleeing cat upon reentering the room.

"I wonder what his problem is! He's usually very sociable." Jacqueline replied with a puzzled look on her face as she sat beside Lore.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Jacqueline continued to speak.

"Data, it seems like ages since the Enterprise came to the aid of the people of Tunqai. It's hard to believe it was only three years ago. If not for the Enterprise's timely response to our distress calls, we would've succumbed to the failing conditions of the planet. Oh, but you already remember all this stuff, you don't need me to remind you."

"No, I do not. However, I often find it to be… helpful to listen to events from the perspective of other parties. Please continue." Lore responded; he desperately wanted to hear more and to learn about his brother's relationship with her.

"After the other survivors and I were beamed aboard the Enterprise, I was very impressed. I'd never been on a starship like the Enterprise before. I met with all the crew. They were very kind and welcoming. Well, Lieutenant Worf was a bit stand-offish, but I guess that's just his nature. Then I met you Data. When I first met you I nearly fainted." she explained with a nervous chuckle.

"Really, why?" Lore asked, struggling to maintain his composure.

"Because you looked like…" Jacqueline stopped herself from saying Lore's name, "a very different person than what I had expected."

Lore could see that she was getting nervous; he made that determination based on her fidgeting. 'Hmm, so dear Jackie has a little crush on my little brother!' he thought with angry disgust.

"So Data, how have you been?"

"I have been well. How are you?" Lore replied, nearly biting his tongue not to say what was really on his mind.

"Fine. I'm fine… actually no, I'm not. Data, I've been feeling awful lately." she replied. Lore could clearly see that she was struggling to fight back tears, but he vowed not to pity her. He refused to let her into the vulnerable part of himself again.

"What is troubling you Jacqueline?" Lore asked, maintaining his non-expressive face and voice.

"Data there's… something I need to tell you. Something I guess I should've told you when we met. I didn't think it was appropriate for me to do it at the time, but I think I may have been wrong."

Jacqueline replied as a lonely tear escaped her eye.

"Tell me what Jacqueline?" Lore asked, bracing himself for the answer he knew he wouldn't like; that she desired his brother Data.

She took a deep breath and gently took his hand and Lore nearly exploded with rage, but managed to contain himself.

"Data, you weren't the first android Dr. Soong made. There was one before you, his name was Lore." she said as the tears began to flow, "He was deactivated shortly before the Crystalline Entity attacked the colony on Omicron Theta. To this day, everyone says that he summoned the attack, but I don't believe it. He tried to stop it. He tried to warn everyone but they wouldn't listen. They even tried to blame him for the deaths of three members of the research team — including my fiancé at the time! But I knew he wasn't capable of doing such things! I believed in him and I was forced to betray him!"

Jacqueline's body shook violently as she sobbed, shaking her head.

Lore was thoroughly shocked. It wasn't what he expected to hear. He nearly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, but thought better of it.

"What do you mean you were forced to betray him?" Lore asked, his curiosity had piqued even further.

"I… I'm sorry Data. It's a long story and I can't even bring myself to talk about it right now. It's much too painful!" she stuttered while hiccupping on her intense sobs, "Please excuse me!"

Jacqueline ran out of the room, but Lore could still hear her sobbing from the lavatory. The sobs were then muffled by the sound of the sonic shower.

While the soothing heat of the shower calmed her some, Jacqueline had the strangest feeling that she was being watched. However, when she peeked out of the shower she realized she was alone. She chalked it up to her nerves playing tricks on her, but Lore had in fact had been watching her. He scolded himself for doing so as he reminded himself about how badly she had hurt him. He succeeded in burying his feelings of love for Jacqueline underneath the hatred and pain that had accumulated over the years, at least for the moment.

Upon finishing her shower, she returned to the living area to apologize to Data for her rudeness but was surprised to see he was no longer there. She deduced that perhaps he had gone to explore the city for a while. Therefore, she decided to turn in for the night since she had become very tired. When Jacqueline entered her bedroom, she was surprised to see him standing by her window.

"Um, Data? What are…?" she began to ask before Lore interrupted her.

"Jacqueline, I must ask you a question. Do you think I am… better than my brother?" he asked and Jacqueline was shocked to hear the question.

"No Data. I mean… other than the fact that Lore had emotions and you don't; you're basically very alike."

Jacqueline's comment filled Lore with contempt.

"But Data, what are you doing in my room?" she asked inquisitively.

"Jacqueline, you seem surprised. Did you not wish for me to keep you company?" Lore asked with an innocent expression on his face.

As she blushed with embarrassment, she chuckled nervously and attempted to explain.

"Data, I'm sorry if I misled you. When I asked you to stay with me… I meant platonically." she said with a gentle smile, "Come, let me show you to the spare room."

Lore followed her out of her bedroom and a slight, sincere smile emerged on his face. She had confirmed that she was not interested in Data romantically. It was a revelation that somehow comforted Lore.

Later that night as Jacqueline slept, Lore crept into her room. He stood silently and watched her as she slept. It appeared that she was having some sort of nightmare and he couldn't help but wonder if it was about him. Her words looped around in his head: 'I was forced to betray him!' Lore wondered if she was telling the truth or if it was another one of her skillful lies. As he continued to stare at her, he couldn't help but recall how badly she hurt him and how angry he was at her. After so many years, the pain was as fresh as if it had just happened that very moment. When he realized that he was balling up his fists, he decided to leave the room before he would do something he might later regret.